“It appears that the president has got himself into a terrible fix here,” said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Costa Mesa. “He obviously repeatedly lied to the American people and now the chickens are coming home to roost,” he said, while Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana, countered that “it's good that (Obama) is addressing the issue.”

Something Sanchez does not support is a bill sponsored by Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., which would essentially do what the president proposed. However, the Upton bill also would allow insurance providers to offer the exempted plans to new consumers, while the president’s exemption only applies to current policy holders whose plans have been canceled. Allowing new consumers to purchase these plans theoretically would draw consumers away from the health care exchanges.

The Upton bill has 161 cosponsors, mostly Republicans, and is scheduled for a vote on Friday. Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, supports the Upton plan because, “Americans who like their current coverage and their doctor should be allowed to keep them.” Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, called the president’s plan an “administrative ploy, and lauded the Upton bill saying “Americans need a real, legislative solution.”

Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who called the president’s decision “a good step,” decried Republican opposition to the president’s announcement and said that fixing it is not good enough for Republicans. “They just want to tear it down.”

Congress members also have been hearing from upset constituents who have received cancelation notices. “Our Washington, D.C., and Irvine offices have been receiving a steady stream of hundreds of emails, calls and letters from constituents that have lost their health insurance and are now facing prices for new insurance plans that are double and triple what they were paying,” said Christopher Bognanno, spokesman for Rep. John Campbell, R-Irvine, who is a cosponsor of the Upton bill.

Not all constituent feedback has been negative. “We have been hearing from constituents across the entire spectrum,” Rep. Al Lowenthal, D-Long Beach, wrote in an email response to questions. “From those that are grateful for being able to afford health care for their families for the first time, to people with pre-existing conditions who can now get coverage again, to people who have received cancelation letters from their insurance companies.”

A Senate bill, proposed by Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., would require providers to continue offering these plans beyond 2014, for as long as the consumer wishes to keep enrolling. Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is a cosponsor of that bill, but she “commend(s) the president for responding quickly.”

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